Shipments of smartphone-use application processors in China are expected to decline 15.9% sequentially to 145 million units in the first quarter of 2017, according to Digitimes Research. Shipments on an annual basis will grow about 7.6% from the 134.8 million units shipped in first-quarter 2016.

MediaTek, among the top-three smartphone AP vendors, will suffer the largest sequential drop in first-quarter shipments, said Digitimes Research. The Taiwan-based firm's smartphone AP shipments in China will fall 18.6% sequentially to 57 million units in the first quarter of 2017, due to a lack of solutions to support LTE Cat. 7 technology as well as seasonal factors.

Spreadtrum is expected to see its smartphone shipments in China decline 15.6% on quarter to 27 million units in the first quarter of 2017, Digitimes Research indicated. Shipments of Spreadtrum's 16nm 4G SoC series, dubbed SC9860, targeted at the mid-range segment failed to make a positive contribution to the company's shipments during the quarter.

Qualcomm's smartphone AP shipments in China will register a smaller 12% sequential decrease in the first quarter, thanks to its more-competitive offerings, Digitimes Research noted. Qualcomm is forecast to ship 44 million units in the first quarter of 2017, up a substantial 41.9% on year. Qualcomm has enjoyed strong sales of its high-end S800-series solutions, while obtaining orders with its S600 series for mid-range devices from Xiaomi and Oppo.

In addition, Qualcomm will manage to grow its share of China's smartphone AP market above 30% in the first quarter of 2017, while MediaTek's market share will drop below 40%, Digitimes Research observed. MediaTek saw its share of the China smartphone AP market fall to 40.6% in the fourth quarter of 2016 from 46% in the first two quarters of the year.

In 2018, global server shipments will grow 8.5% to reach 13.73 million units. Digitimes Research estimates server shipments worldwide will grow at a CAGR of 6.5% during the period 2017-2022, with growth mainly driven by large-scale data centers and the China market.

Digitimes Research expects global AP shipments to surpass the 1.9 billion mark in 2017, with smartphones remaining the main application. Qualcomm will be leading the market in 2017, as other players continue playing catch up and scramble for funds to invest in more diverse applications.